Instant Analysis of Redskins 34-24 loss to Eagles

The Washington Redskins have improved a lot since their first game in Week 1 against the Philadelphia Eagles but, between the injuries they sustained both before and during this game; and the talent of Philly QB Carson Wentz, Washington just didn’t have enough to get a win in this Monday night matchup. The Redskins are now 3-3 after a 34-24 loss to the now 6-1 Eagles.

In retrospect, most of this contest was The Carson Wentz Show with some defensive tackle Fletcher Cox thrown in there.

The Redskins came out fast on their first possession with QB Kirk Cousins spreading the ball around to RB Rob Kelley, TE Vernon Davis, WR Jamison Crowder and RB Chris Thompson. Kelley looked good early and both Davis and Crowder recorded first downs on their catches. But the drive stalled when Kelley couldn’t gain yards on the ground and Cousins threw an incomplete pass to WR Josh Doctson in the end zone. The Redskins gained the lead early though when new kicker Nick Rose got his first NFL score on a 27-yard FG and put the score at 3-0.

The Eagles came out after the kickoff but multiple penalties (including three in a row) put them way back in their territory. Even after Philadelphia Carson Wentz threw a long pass to make up some ground, CB Quinton Dunbar stopped the drive with an interception.

The Redskins offense couldn’t do anything with the gift and punted. On that drive, RG Brandon Scherff was hurt during a hit in the back by Eagles DE Derek Barnett that should have been an unnecessary roughness flag thrown on it.

The rest of the half was dominated by Wentz making big plays and the Redskins only teasing with a few.

Washington’s defense got home a couple of times, sacking the second-year QB but he is a mobile, aware quarterback and it was amazing to see the fixes out of which he removed himself.

After their first ineffective possession, the Eagles scored a field goal to bring the score to 3-3.

After that, Washington moved to ball with a big pass to TE Niles Paul and a Rob Kelley eight-yard run. Cousins scrambled for a first down and Davis caught another big pass.

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Second-year Josh Doctson played early and garnered a pass-interference call for a first down and in the second quarter, and then Thompson scored a touchdown on a seven-yard reception to bring the score to 10-3.

But after that, Cousins & Co. just couldn’t keep the ball when they had it and part of that was because the offensive line was decimated in this game.

RT Morgan Moses was hurt and went out for a time. In his place, OT T.J. Clemmings did okay until Moses returned. He ended up leaving the field again and was badly hurt enough that teammates Brandon Scherff and Trent Williams had to help him off the field. Even so, he returned but wasn’t ever himself after.

After the Eagles early field goal, Wentz hit WR Mack Hollins for a 64-yard touchdown when the Redskins pass-rush could not get to the mobile quarterback. This brought the score to 10-10 and then later, with a couple minutes left in the half, Wentz went to his go-to guy, TE Zach Ertz for an easy four-yard TD. Redskins safety D.J. Swearinger was there but couldn’t bring the tight end down.

The Eagles scored 17 points in the first 30 minutes of the game with the second quarter being the worst for Washington. During that period, Philly scored two TDs and a FG to the Redskins one TD and FG and the score at halftime was 17-10.

The second half was not pretty for Washington.

While each team scored a touchdown in the third quarter, this was when Wentz really went into MVP mode.

At one point, he was engulfed by no less than four Redskins defenders and, basically pushed out of the scrum by center Jason Kelce who was there to block, the QB got away and still scrambled for the first down.

Wentz is so big (6-5, 237 lbs.), so aware and has such an ability to get away, that even when guys like LBs Ryan Kerrigan and Preston Smith; or DL Matt Ioannidis got close to him, he would get away and make a play. And with all the time he used up dodging defenders, Washington’s secondary couldn’t stay with their receiver assignments forever.

The fourth quarter put the game out of reach with the Eagles scoring 17 points to the Redskins’ seven.

Washington CB Quinton Dunbar, in the game with starting CB Josh Norman still out, was impactful again for a lot of the game, getting tackles at important times.

The defensive line wasn’t bad at all. It pressured Wentz… he’s just too good.

There were times when the Redskins tackling could have been better, to be sure. The defense did pretty much stop the Eagles rushing attack with RBs LeGarrette Blount, Wendell Smallwood, Corey Clements and Kenjon Barner only recording 65 yards between the four.

Cousins played well considering the pressure he was under. He did take a couple of sacks when he should have thrown the ball away, but he was still 29 of 38 for 306 yards.

Kelley and Thompson logged just 39 yards rushing between them.

Davis led the pass-catchers with four receptions for 67 yards.

It was good to see TE Jordan Reed get involved late in the game but some of his success could have been that the Eagles were far enough ahead, they were playing prevent defense. Reed caught eight passes for 64 yards.

Excuses are not allowed by a losing team, but the Redskins offensive line was a mess. In the end, the Redskins were four of twelve on third down versus Philly. It’s not easy to move the ball in that case.

The time of possession of the two teams belies how uneven things were late in the game. The Redskins offense held the ball for the longest at 30:15 to the Eagles 29:45 but it seemed the opposite because of the plays Philadelphia made.

LT Trent Williams was already playing hurt. Morgan Moses had a leg rolled on and went out and came back. And both Scherff and center Spencer Long had to leave the field at one point. Only LG Shawn Lauvao seemed unscathed.

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